Figures



March 31, 1964 c, s'r 5R 3,126,588

AUTOMATICALLY-LOCKING RESILIENTLYBALANCED SASH GUIDE UNIT Filed Dec. 4.1961 FIG.I m

FIG-4 INVENTOR. BY FRED C. OSTEN SR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 3,125,588 Patented Meir. 31, 19643,12asss AUIGMATICALL -LGCKING RESILIENTLY- BALANCED SASH GUIDE UNITFred C. Gsten, Sin, 14500 Ahingdon Ava, Detroit, Mich. Filed Dec. 4,ram, Ser. No. 155,710 10 Claims. (Cl. 2il42) This invention relates totiltable and optionally removable sash windows and, in particular, tosuch windows equipped with automatically-locking spring sash balanceswhen in the tilted positions of such windows.

One object of this invention is to provide a tiltable and optionallyremovable sash window which is pivotally mounted by pivot membersthreaded into the verticallyslidable elements of the sash balances andwhich threadedly engage these elements in such a manner as to lock theseelements to the sash guides or sash balance casings in response totilting of the sash out of the plane of the window frame for cleaning orother treatment in the tilted position of the sash or for outrightremoval thereof, whereby to hold the sliding elements in their attainedpositions and inactivate the sash balancing springs connected to themwhile maintaining these springs in their tensioned conditions.

Another object is to provide a tiltable and optionally removable sashwindow of the foregoing character wherein the pivot members have headsof non-circular crosssection engageable with notches in the sash framesto prevent relative rotation therebetween during such tilting of thesash and to cause the tilting of the sash to rotate the heads of thepivot members.

Another object is to provide a tiltable and optionally removable sashwindow of the foregoing character, wherein the pivot elements engagecontact pads which in turn engage the sash guide or sash balance casingand thereby prevent nicking or denting thereof while distributing thecontact over an extended area, so as to increase the frictional lockinggrip effected by the pads and prevent such nicking or denting.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the course of the following description of the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section through a tiltable double-hung sashwindow installation in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the windowpanes, according to one form of the invention, with the midportion ofthe sash window installation omitted to conserve space and with thetilted position of one of the sashes shown in dotted lines;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical longitudinal section takenalong the line 2-2 in FIGURE 1, showing one of the sash balances in itsunlocked position While the sash is in its vertical solid-line positionof FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2, but showing the sash balance ofFIGURE 2 in its locked position with the sash in its tilted dotted lineposition of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical cross-section taken along the line4-4 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical cross-section taken along the line 5-5 in FIGURE2; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary horizontal cross-section taken along the line6-6 in FIGURE 2.

Referring to the drawing in detail, FIGURES 1 to 4 inclusive show atiltable and optionally removable automatically-locking balanced slidingsash window installation, generally designated 10, according to one formof the invention as generally including a window frame 12 with oppositevertical side members 14 (only one of which is shown) carrying tworesiliently-mounted springbalanced vertical sash guide units 16 (alsoone unit only being shown) yieldingly engaging lower and upper slidingsash units 18 and 20 respectively. Each of the lower and upper sashunits 18 and 20 is provided with opposite side rails 22, a bottom rail24 and a top rail 26, these rails collectively forming a sash frame,generally designated 28, containing a window pane 30 mounted in the opencenter thereof.

Each of the opposite vertical sash rails 22 is provided with a centralrib 32 (FIGURES 3 and 6) having on its opposite sides flat lands 34adapted to fit and slidably engage correspondingly-shaped channels 36 ineach of two opposite sash guides 38 in opposite sash guide units 16.Each sash guide 38 includes two horizontally-spaced balancing springhousing or casing portions 4% (only one of which is shown in FIGURES 2,3, 5 and 6). Each housing portion 4% contains one of two spring sashbalance units, generally designated 42, these being located on oppositesides of the window frame 12. The housing portions 40 (FIGURE 6) are ofapproximately rectangular cross-section with opposite side walls 44, andfront and rear walls 46 and 48, the front wall 46 being divided into twoentrance flanges 50 by a vertical slot 52.

Mounted within each sash balancing spring housing portion 46 of eachsash guide 38 is the elongated helical sash balancing tension spring 54of each sash balance unit 42. The upper end of each spring 54 (notshown) is looped and thereby anchored to the sash guide 38 by beinghooked over the upper end of the casing portion 40 thereof. The lowerend of each sash balancing spring 54 terminates in a hook portion 56(FIGURE 5) which is hooked through a horizontal hole 58 (FIGURES 2 and3) in a rib 60 (FIGURE 5) at the top of a slide block or look carrier62. The slide block or lock carrier 62 is, as its name suggests, in theform of a vertically-elongated block of any suitable material, such asthe polyamide plastic commercially known as nylon, and loosely butslidably fitting the housing portion 41 of each spring balance unit 42.

Each slide block of lock carrier 62 is bored and threaded as at 64centrally and horizontally in line with the entrance slot 52 of itsrespective housing portion 40. The threaded bore 64 extends from thefront surface 66 of the slide block 62 into a counterbore 68 ofrectangular crosssection loosely and slidably receiving a pressure orcontact pad 70 of soft steel, copper, brass or other suitable materialadapted to provide frictional engagement with the rear wall 48 of thehousing portion 40. Threaded through the bore 64 with its rearward endengaging the contact pad 74 is the shank 72 of a pivot screw 74 having ahead 76 of non-circular cross-section, the head shape shown being ofsquare cross-section.

Each sash 1% or 20 is pivotally supported between a pair ofoppositely-facing pivot screws 74- which act as trunnions and areoppositely-threaded, like turnbuckle screws, to move outwardly inopposite directions and push their contact pads 7d in oppositedirections against the rear walls 48 of their respective housingportions 4!} in response to tilting of the sash 18 or 20 from itsvertical position to its inclined position. Thus the pivot screw 74shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 has a shank 72. with a left-hand threadedportion 78, whereas its opposite pivot screw (not shown) would have aright-hand thread on its shank. In actual practice, it has been foundthat a pair of oppositely-threaded 48 screws 74 is suitable for thispurpose, the rotation thereof through the approximately 60-degree anglebetween the vertical and inclined positions of the sash 18 providingsufficient advance of the pivot screws 74 to bring about satisfactorylocking engagement of the contact pads 79 with their respective rearwalls 48 of their housing portions 40 on opposite sides of the windowframe opening occupied by the particular sash unit 13 or 2% underconsideration. Each bottom rail 24 of each sash 13 or 29 is providedwith a notch 39 of rectangular cross-section snugly but slidably fittingthe square head 76 of its particular pivot screw '74 (FIGURES 2, 3 and4). Either or both of the sash guides 38 is resiliently supported oncompression springs 82.

In the operation of the invention, let it be assumed that the lower andupper sash units 18 and 29 are in their normal closed positions shown inFIGURE 1, with their panes 3t) disposed in laterally-spaced parallelvertical positions. Let it also he assumed that the balancing springs 54(only one of which is shown in FIGURE 1) are in their tensioned orstretched positions, resulting from the sash units 18 and 20 being intheir closed positions, thereby counterbalancing the weight of thesashes 18 and 2t Let it finally be assumed that the user desires to tiltthe lower sash unit 18 for cleaning its window pane 3% or for otherpurposes, and at the same time simultaneously lock the sash balanceunits 42 in their attained positions with their balancing springs 54stretched or tensioned as shown in FIGURE 1.

To tilt the lower sash unit 18, for example, the user grasps its toprail or meeting rail 26 (not shown except for the upper sash 2t?) andswings it downwardly into the inclined position shown in the dottedlines in FIG- URE 1. This action pushes either or both of theresiliently mounted sash guides 38 (depending upon whether only one ofthe sash guides 33 is resiliently mounted on one side of the windowframe 12 or whether both sash guides are resiliently mounted). As thesash unit 18 swings from its vertical position to its inclined position(FIGURE 1), it pivots around the pivot screws or trunnions 74, the heads76 of which engage the side walls of the notches $50 so as to be rotatedin response to the tilting of the sash unit 18.

As the pivot screws 74 rotate in this manner, their shanks 72 moveoutward from their retracted positions of FIGURE 2 to their extendedpositions of FIGURE 3, pushing their respective contact pads 76 intotightly-locking frictional engagement with the rearward walls 48 of thehousing portions 46. This action in turn pushes the front surface 66 ofeach slide lock 62 tightly and frictionally against the front wall 46 ofthe housing portion 4% As a result, the slide blocks 62 are solidlylocked to their respective housing portions 46? in their attainedpositions with their respective balancing springs 54 stretched ortensioned (FIGURE 1). The user may now wash or otherwise work on thewindow sash 13 in its tilted position and the lower end of the sash 18will not fly upward because its sash balance units 42 have been lockedimmovably to their respective housing portions 40.

If, for instance, the window pane 3th is broken or for some other reasonthe user desires to remove the sash unit 18 as a whole from the windowframe 12, he merely pulls upward and outward in an inclined directionparallel to the plane of the window pane 3t withdrawing the notches 80in the lower sash rails 24 out of engagement with the heads 76 of thepivot screws 74, leaving the latter in their rotated and lockingpositions in the slide blocks 62. The user, after working upon theremoved sash unit 18, replaces it by positioning it in the same inclinedposition in which he removed it (FIGURE 1), lining up the notches St) inthe bottom rail 24 with the heads 76 of the pivot screws 74 and thensliding the sash unit 18 downward in an inclined direction parallel tothe window pane 39 until the screw heads 76 enter and reach the tops ofthe notches 8% as shown in FIGURES 2 and 4. In either event, whethermerely tilting the window sash 18 for cleaning or other purposes or forremoving it entirely, the operator after replacing it upon the pivotscrews 74 in the manner described immediately below, swings the windowsash 18 upward and inward into a vertical plane to its closed positionshown in the solid lines of FIGURE 1.

In replacing the sash unit the user wedges apart the sash guides 33,compressing their resilient mounting springs (not shown). When the sashunit 13 reaches its vertical position, however, the central ribs 32 ofthe opposite vertical sash rails 22 move into their respective channels36 in the opposite sash guides 38 and at the same time rotate theirrespective pivot screws 74 and retract them from their projected lockingpositions of FIGURE 3 to their retracted or unlocking positions ofFIGURE 2. In so doing, the pivot screws '74 relax their grip upon theirrespective contact pads '75), which disengage from contact with the rearwalls 43 of the spring balance housing portions 40, whereupon thebalancing springs 54 are unlocked and resume their balancing functionswhile permitting the lower sash 18 to be raised and lowered by slidingit upward or downward in its respective guide channels 36.

The removal of the upper sash 20 is similar to that described above forthe lower sash 13, except that the relative positions of the variousparts are reversed so that the meeting rail is pulled in order to tiltthe sash 20, the upper rail 26 of which is notched and pivotallysupported upon pivot screws similar to the pivot screws 74.

The pad 70 not only avoids or minimizes indentation of the rear wall 48of the housing portion 40 but also increases the frictional engagementtherewith. It will be evident, however, that the pad 70 may be omitted,whereupon the end of the pivotal locking screw '74 becomes the contactmeans which directly engages the wall 48 of the housing portion 46).Under such circumstances, locking still occurs but the inner end of thepivotal locking screw '74 is more likely to form indentations such asnicks or dents in the wall 48, particularly if the sash guide 38 isformed of aluminum or other relatively soft metal.

What I claim is:

1. An automatically-locking resiliently-balanced sash guide unit fortiltable sash windows, comprising an elongated sash guide including ahollow sash balance housing portion with vertical walls,

one of said walls having an elongated aperture extending longitudinallytherealong and defining flange-like elongated vertical wall portionsdisposed on opposite sides of said aperture,

a resilient sash-balancing member mounted within said housing portionand having one end anchored thereto,

a lock carrier slidably mounted in said housing portion and connected tothe opposite end portion of said sash balancing member,

said lock carrier having an approximately horizontal threaded boretherein aligned with said aperture,

a threaded pivotal locking member threadedly engaging said bore inrotatable relationship therewith for motion axially relatively theretoand,

said locking member having a coupling portion projecting outwardlythrough said aperture and adapted to engage said sash for rotationthereby in response to tilting of said sash,

and contact means connected to said locking member for motion relativelyto said lock carrier into and out of locking engagement with another ofsaid walls in response to rotation of said locking member.

2. An automatically-locking resiliently-balanced sash guide unit,according to claim 1, wherein said coupling portion has a head withflattened opposite sides adapted to engage the sash.

3. An automatically-locking resiliently-balanced sash guide unit,according to claim 1, wherein said coupling portion comprises a head ofapproximately rectangular cross-section on said locking member.

4. An automaticallydocking resiliently-balanced sash guide unit,according to claim 1, wherein said lock carrier has a contact surface onthe opposite side thereof from said contact means and adapted to beforced into engagement with said flange-like wall portions in responseto rotation of said locking member.

5. An automatically-tilt-iocking resiliently-balanced guided slidingsash installation for mounting in a window frame opening, saidinstallation comprising a pair of vertically-disposed laterally-spacedelongated sash guides adapted to be mounted on opposite sides of thewindow frame,

a sash frame vertically slidably engaging said sash guides in tiltablerelationship therewith and extending therebetween,

said sash frame near its lower corners having recesses thereineach sashguide including a hollow sash balance housing portion with verticalwalls,

one of said Walls having an elongated aperture extending longitudinallytherealong and defining flange-like elongated vertical wall portionsdisposed in opposite sides of said aperture,

a resilient sash-balancing member mounted within each housing portionand having one end anchored thereto,

a lock carrier slidably mounted in each housing portion and connected tothe opposite end portion of its respective sash balancing member, l

each lock carrier having an approximately horizontal threaded boretherein aligned with said aperture,

a threaded pivotal locking member threadedly engaging each bore inrotatable relationship therewith,

one of said bores and its corresponding locking member having threads ofopposite hand to the other bore and locking member,

each locking member having a. coupling portion projecting outwardlythrough its respective aperture into coupled engagement with said sashfor rotation thereby in response to tilting of said sash,

and contact means connected to each locking member for motion into andout of locking engagement with another of said walls of its respectivehousing portion for rotation by said sash in response to tilting of saidsash.

6. An automaticallytilt-locking resiliently balanced guided sliding sashinstallation, according to claim 5, wherein each of said couplingportions has a head with flattened opposite sides adapted to engage thesash.

7. A11 automatically-tilt-loclcing resiliently-balanced guided slidingsash installation, according to claim 5, wherein each of said lockcarriers has a recess therein adjacent the inner end of said threadedbore, and wherein said contact means includes a locking pad mounted insaid recess for approximately horizontal motion relatively to said lockcarrier.

8. An automatically-til-t-locking resiliently-balanced guided slidingsash installation, according to claim 5, wherein each of said couplingportions comprises a head of approximately rectangular cross-section onsaid locking member.

9. An automatically-tilt-locking resiliently-balanced guided slidingsash installation, according to claim 5, wherein each of said lockcarriers has a contact surface on the opposite side thereof from saidcontact means and adapted to be forced into engagement with saidflange-like Wall portions in response to rotation of said lockingmember.

10. An automatically-tilt-locking resiliently-balanced guided slidingsash installation, according to claim 5, wherein resilient mountingmeans is disposed in yieldingly-urged engagement with one of said sashguides.

Mulford Mar. 31, 1903 Peters et a1 Sept. 25, 1962

1. AN AUTOMATICALLY-LOCKING RESILIENTLY-BALANCED SASH GUIDE UNIT FORTITABLE SASH WINDOWS, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED SASH GUIDE INCLUDING AHOLLOW SASH BALANCE HOUSING PORTION WITH VERTICAL WALLS, ONE OF SAIDWALLS HAVING AN ELONGATED APERTURE EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THEREALONGAND DEFINING FLANGE-LIKE ELONGATED VERTICAL WALL PORTIONS DISPOSED ONOPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID APERTURE, A RESILIENT SASH-BALANCING MEMBERMOUNTED WITHIN SAID HOUSING PORTION AND HAVING ONE END ANCHORED THERTO,A LOCK CARRIER SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN SAID HOUSING PORTION AND CONNECTED TOTHE OPPOSITE END PORTION OF SAID SASH BALANCING MEMBER, SAID LOCKCARRIER HAVING AN APPROXIMATELY HORIZONTAL THREADED BORE THEREIN ALIGNEDWITH SAID APERTURE, A THREADED PIVOTAL LOCKING MEMBER THREADEDLYENGAGING SAID BORE IN ROTATABLE RELATIONSHIP THEREWITH FOR MOTIONAXIALLY RELATIVELY THERETO AND, SAID LOCKING MEMBER HAVING A COUPLINGPORTION PROJECTING OUTWARDLY THROUGH SAID APERTURE AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGESAID SASH FOR ROTATION THEREBY IN RESPONSE TO TILTING OF SAID SASH, ANDCONTACT MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID LOCKING MEMBER FOR MOTION RELATIVELY TOSAID LOCK CARRIER INTO AND OUT OF LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH ANOTHER OFSAID WALLS IN RESPONSE TO ROTATION OF SAID LOCKING MEMBER.